Viduthalai pretty much falls into the territory of the series of movies on politics of downtrodden made by the influential three – Vetrimaaran, Pa Ranjith and Mari Selvaraj. Depending on how a viewer sees this or how the filmmaker sees them, it can fall into the category of Dalit Politics, Victim Politics, Politics of Downtrodden or Caste Politics. After I watched the movie (both the parts), my immediate thought was how this movie wants to match upto phenomenal Asuran and searing Karnan. It neither reaches the content and character depths of Asuran, nor makes you empathise with the rage of Karnan.

The film terribly falls short on multiple counts – the film making, the story, the politics behind the story and what not.

Promoting Maoistic Violence

Significant part of the movie is being spent on showing the central character, Perumal Vaathiyar, taking to violence as a remedy to all social ills – both real and perceived. There are lengthy conversations around whether violence is the righteous path to address the challenges, and you’d find that the dialogues are heavily in favour of the violence. Perumal Vaathiyar character justifies the violence. All his immediate subordinates justify the violence. His wife, Mahalakshmi (played by Manju Warrier), who is shown to be a voice of reason, and have significant influence over Perumal Vaathiyar’s action, and is consistent in backing all the violence.

In a sequence involving retribution over the killing of KK, Perumal Vaathiyar’s mentor, she pushes for the murder and killing of the sugar mill owner and his son. People who have not watched the movie will not understand the gravity of her push, since the sugar mill owner is her father, and his son is her own brother.

Anurag Kashyap does a cameo of a leftist from northern India, and his action and dialogues are pretty much indicative of violence as a means to an end. The only inference that I could get from his presence was that he is a Naxal from Northern India, known for all their violence against their own community.

Frankly, I have never seen a movie which has been this explicit in glorifying violent Maoism.

The Irony of Peacenik Re-incarnation of Perumal Vaathiyar

In the second half, there are again scene after scene, where Perumal Vaathiyar seems to have a change of heart, and dissuading his team from violence. All these scenes seem to be Vetrimaran’s slow realisation that his movie is preaching violence. Remember, lot of these scenes seem to happen before the climax portion of the first part, which in itself had bouts of violence from the Makkal Padai, the organisation of Perumal Vaathiyaar.

Just when I thought irony had died a slow death, the lead up to the climax served yet another display of this contradiction. In a lengthy shoot out in the mist-clad hills, after scores of death on both sides (police and Makkal Padai), another bunch of lengthy dialogues from Perumal Vaathiyar about the need to pursue political solution and not violence, and even as he speaks, we see 5 or 6 guys being shot dead. For the group which not just respects Perumal Vaathiyar, but deifies him, all it would have taken was one firm instruction to stop the shooting. But then, Vetrimaaran probably wanted irony to die twice, since it is a two part movie.

Dravidian Ideology in a Communist Glorification

The constant references to the communist ideology as panacea for all social ills can be understood to a great extent considering the periods in which the film’s story is set (and by extension, I am ignoring its irrelevance in today’s context). I don’t understand the need to refer to “Karuppu Sattai” as an ally of “Sevappu Sattai”. Seriously? Are the film makers betting on people not recollecting Kilvenmani Massacre and EVR’s explicit support for the Gopalakrishna Naidu? Wait? Did Vetrimaaran actually forgot that he made a movie called “Asuran” in that backdrop?

And more importantly, when exactly have the Dravidian ideology have fought for the welfare of the downtrodden and labourers? It was always about opposing “Aryans” (a.k.a. North Indians), more specifically peddling hate against Brahmins.

Another scene right at the beginning involves actor Ilavarasu, portraying a minister, saying that they (Dravidian Politicians) had to lay their heads on railway track to get benefits (education?) for the officers in the room. Upfront, I thought it was a sly attack on the D-Stock, till there were more favourable reference to Karuppu Sattai.

The film’s storyline had no need to build or showcase the Karuppu Sattai in any light, be it good or bad. My personal thought was that it was forcibly pushed inside to suit the present day ruler’s agenda. Considering that this movie could end up becoming a loss making proposition (which, it will, for filmmaking reasons detailed later), and that it is distributed by Red Giant movies.

Freudian Slip Anyone?

In one of the scenes involving KK Thozhar (Actor Kishore), where he explains what is “Left Wing Ideology”, he goes about referring to the French Revolution, saying the obvious historic fact – Left Wing were the political group who sat to the left of the Presiding Member’s chair in the French Parliament, and they had opposed the Monarchy and associated veto privileges, and were by extension for “voting and democratic rights”.

In today’s scenario, the principal political group in Tamil Nadu i.e. DMK has rarely embraced any inner party democracy and runs on one family’s writ, the exact opposite of the original “Left Wing Ideology”. If ever there was a ranking of Freudian slips, this takes the Gold.

Film Making Aspects

Lacking in Character Building & Messaging

There are a bunch of scenes that happen in a certain sequence –

1. Group of police officers and civil servants discussing bringing in Amudhan as an Officer In Charge of Special Operation, because he is a good guy, who is now in a camp.
2. A lecture happening in the camp (Major Madan Cameo) detailing among other things, the significance of human life and the need to avoid human rights violation.
3. Cut to the climax, the same officer, Amudhan, who was considered as good by the powers, and who is being trained on human rights, ends up killing the “accused” (Perumal Vaathiyaar) who raises his hands, unarmed and is surrendering.

What exactly is the messaging here? Amudhan is the good guy or the bad guy? That character was shown to have some conscience in the first part, and shown to be without any remorse in the second one.

Jarring Viewing Experience – Overspeaking and Editing

One of the recurring themes with Vetrimaaran’s movie is the overspeaking i.e. where the actual dialogue mouthed during the shooting is entirely different from the one that comes in the final version after dubbing. You’d notice that the words spoken and the lip movements don’t even sync well. I can understand this jarring experience when you watch a dubbed movie or even when a non-native actor does the role, with a native speakers voice being used to dub his or her portion. Vetrimaaran seems to shoot the movie with one set of dialogues and during dubbing changes the dialogues. I experienced this jarring episode even while watching Asuran, and Viduthalai Part 1 and this movie. In addition, there are additional dialogues are spoken after the re-recording and dubbing is also over which sticks out pretty sore.

The editing which used to be pretty good in ensuring continuity and consistency is also terrible here. Every movie watcher will have the confusion on the timelines. In one scene, KK Thozhar dies, and five scenes later, he comes back alive. It is understandable that all these are from the past, but it does not add to any cohesiveness.

My final conclusion is that Vetrimaaran is the same as he was 10 years back. The deterioration in the film making is telling, and he has lost his filmmaking marbles in chasing politically influential storylines and dialogues. From the crystal clear voice that his movies used to carry, it is more of a drunken slur.

Loose Ends

For the bunch of build up the first part had about Soori’s romance with Bhavani Sre, you don’t get to see her for more than a 30 second scene. The first part pretty much ended with police atrocities on the villagers, including punishing them by making them stand nude, and the second part pretty much no references to that or any closure to that atrocity.

Good Things Any?

There are many – the locations, the acting performances, the background music. And it is not the point of this article, and I’d leave it to the bigger group of people who’d orgasm at the smallest good thing in the movie.

Conclusion

To say that this is Vetrimaaran’s weakest movie is an understatement and does not capture my immediate thoughts on this movie. This is inarguably his worst, in all aspects – story, story telling, character depth and film making.

G Saimukundhan is a Chartered Accountant.

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The post Viduthalai Part 2: An Epic Bore That Glorifies Maoist Violence And Forces Ideological Propaganda Through Lectures appeared first on The Commune.

Left MLA P.V. Anvar on Thursday attacked the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying that Communism has become slavery in the state. “Communism in Kerala is now a mere slavery. No one is allowed to question. Take the example of CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan. The present leadership only want to listen to the top brass without allowing anyone to question them,” Anvar said.

He added that the biggest problem in Kerala is that all top political leaders at the top level leadership of CPI-M are hand in glove which is why no case which involves top political leaders will be investigated. “A coterie leads the Chief Minister. Gone are the days when Vijayan was the people’s leader. I have told him on his face that there were times when he was shining like a sun and now in the past three years, his rankings have decreased,” Anvar said. He added that he has informed the Chief Minister that his political secretary P. Sasi and the ADGP (law and order) M.R. Ajith Kumar are not people what he thinks and are part of a group involved in criminal activities.

“Vijayan must order a judicial probe into the 188 gold smuggling cases which he himself told has been registered in Malappuram district. Sasi and Ajith Kumar know everything as it’s the police and not the Customs which are involved,” he said. Anvar said he did not believe when he heard that Ajith Kumar addresses the Chief Minister as ‘uncle’. He added that Vijayan hinted that he (Anvar) is part of the gold smuggling gang.

“I was waiting for the party will correct its way but it did not happen as the state secretary M.V. Govindan failed to say a word about it. I have been part of the Left for the past two decades and not eight years as mentioned by the CPI-M. Vijayan also gave a clean chit to P.Sasi as Govindan said he has known Sasi for the past four decades,” said Anvar. Anvar said he will return again with more documents.

–IANS

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The post Communism Has Become Slavery In Kerala: Left MLA Anvar appeared first on The Commune.

Dravidianists in Kollywood using cinema as a tool to vilify Hindus, glorify Dravidian ideologues and propagate Dravidian propaganda of so-called ‘social justice’, ‘rationalism’ and what not, is nothing new. However, this time, a DMK sympathizing filmmaker Vasanthabalan has gone on to justify political corruption.

Vasanthabalan shot to fame with his debut film Veyil, produced by Shankar’s S production. His other film Angadi Theru, based on the lives of people working in textile showrooms in Ranganathan Street too became a hit. His other film Kaaviya Thalaivan, a period drama starring Siddharth and Prithviraj Sukumaran received critical acclaim but didn’t perform well in box office. There after his cinematic graph has been downhil. After a long hiatus, he’s now come with his latest series titled “Thalaimai Seyalagam” on Zee5 which is nothing but a boring Dravidian propaganda with no nuance.

Vasanthabalan’s narrative justifying corruption occurs against the backdrop of the BJP government going after corrupt dynastic parties. In Tamil Nadu prominent DMK politician Senthil Balaji is behind bars for corruption and action is awaited on many other bigwigs.

Now, with a DMK sympathizer like Vasanthabalan attempting to normalize corruption through cinema, it becomes alarming. As these films reach people’s homes, they may spread the notion that political corruption and profiteering shouldn’t be considered a big deal and must be normalized and made acceptable.

In a recent interview to the ‘Take Left’ YouTube channel Vasanthabalan has opened up his views and acknowledged that his ideas emerge from inspiration from communism and related figures. One of the anchors who interviewed him was ‘Minor’ who runs the rabid anti-Hindu YouTube channel U2 Brutus which had abused Lord Nataraja.

The interview began with a question about why the series was named “Thalaimai Seyalagam” (Secretariat). Vasanthabalan explained that the series focuses on the chief minister’s office, depicting the power struggles associated with the position. He described the legislative process of passing bills in parliament and questioned how a councilor, earning a mere 5000 rupees, can fulfill their duties after spending significant amounts of money to win the election.

Most of the interview centered on his reasons for choosing this series and the plot. As usual, he subtly reinforced the Dravidian ideology in Tamil Nadu, highlighting how it provided opportunities for everyone to study, in contrast to North India, where his mindset often revolved around same Dravidianists thought of hardworking but low-skilled labor. However, what was concerning in the interview was that both the YouTube channel and the host appeared to be promoting the idea of ignoring the issue of corruption.

The host praised Vasanthabalan, expressing admiration for a particular line in his series: “In the name of abolishing corruption, they will demolish democracy.” The host noted that even the leftist parties wouldn’t make such a statement and asked how Vasanthabalan arrived at this conclusion, suggesting that he believes corruption isn’t the main issue here.

Vasanthabalan replied, “I pay close attention to politics, not as much as you, and I pay attention to it whenever I get time. The way I see it is,  free rice comes to someone who doesn’t deserve it. They give that rice to their maid, who also sells it outside without using it. An idli vendor buys that rice on the road and sells the idli for 50 paisa. So the fund given by a government gets stolen somewhere, it benefits someone, and finally it reaches me as an idli for 50 paisa. Jeyaranjan (Dravidian Stock economist who is currently Vice-Chairperson of the State Development Policy Council) expressed this view in an interview. I really liked this idea.”

He added, “Let’s take a member from a particular community, he comes to a position, he commits a corruption of five crore rupees. But what he will do with those five crores is that he will marry his daughter, give that money to the ten people in that community, this money will be used for the emergence of that community… This will be a way for that community to study, to raise the standard of living or to improve the community. But he has done corruption, I am not saying no. But how I see is, it will take nearly 50 years for that community to advance. But somehow this money reaches the people.”

Vasanthabalan later remarked that while he was aware of the widespread agreement on the need to eliminate corruption, he went a step further to investigate the “red coin” and uncover its propagators, leading him to some insightful discoveries. He then praised Director Vetrimaaran for positively shaping the perception of the name “Asuran,” Director Ranjith for presenting Ravanan in a favorable light, and Director Maari Selvaraj for depicting a pig beautifully. Inspired by these examples, Vasanthabalan incorporated the concept of the “red coin” into his series to showcase its hidden aspects, he said.

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The post Dravidianist Film Director Vasanthabalan Justifies And Normalizes Corruption appeared first on The Commune.

“Bastar: The Naxal Story” is an upcoming Hindi-language film scheduled for theatrical release on 15 March 2024. The film is written and directed by Sudipto Sen, and production is by Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s Sunshine Pictures. Since the announcement in June 2023, the film’s title and description have stirred significant interest on social media. However, there has been commotion from some quarters, who find it unsettling.

Of course, we’re familiar with that as the movie delves into the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, and with Sudipto Sen, known for his previous work on “Kerala Story,” which shed light on realities in Kerala, helms this project, who will not be frightened?

Not only has the director’s meticulous scene crafting elevated the impact to the next level, but the cast, including all actors, especially the main stars who returned for a second run with him, has also done justice to the film. The leads, Adah Sharma, Indira Tiwari, Vijay Krishna, Shilpa Shukla, Yashpal Sharma, Subrat Dutta, and Raima Sen, have done justice to the film.

The movie depicts the collaborative anti-Naxal operation involving the CRPF, Chattisgarh Police, and Salwa Judum, a state-backed civilian anti-Naxal movement between 2009 and 2013 in Chhattisgarh, as well as the Supreme Court proceedings initiated by urban Naxal Nalini Sundar to outlaw Salwa Judum and the Special Police Officer.

The plot centres around the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, serving as the headquarters of Communist Maoism. It intertwines three intriguing plotlines:

• A police officer striving to restore peace to the region.
• The aspirations of the Naxal-dominated tribal community for a tranquil life.
• The ideological struggle of leftist supporters striving to sustain Maoism and Naxalism in Bastar.

Each unique plot is interconnected like a triquetra, captivating the audience and leaving them in anticipation of what unfolds next.

The film not only presents plots but also incorporates numerous references. For instance, it delves into the concept of the Red Corridor, which sheds light on communist ideologists’ exploitation of Dalit youths in the guise of Ambedkar’s ideals to incite armed rebellion against India and portrays the true nature of the communist utopia.

It all begins with a tribal family striving for a peaceful life for their children, hoping for a better future. However, their aspirations are shattered ruthlessly. As the story unfolds, it peels away layers like an onion, revealing the political parties orchestrating the chaos and their strategies to maintain power. It also sketches how they manipulate universities, NGOs, and media outlets to shape narratives and garner support, exploiting legal loopholes along the way.

Showcases in the heart of independent India, raising the national flag is not just forbidden but punishable by death according to Maoist law in Bastar. These Maoists have wreaked havoc for decades, claiming countless lives and causing immense damage to national assets in their pursuit of communist ideals. Set in 2010, referencing institutions like INU and characters like Vanya Roy, the movie leaves audiences guessing until the end.

After “Uri: The Surgical Strike,” Bollywood’s courageous endeavour to depict the reality of Naxal-affected regions and expose the truth without distortion is praiseworthy. Every proud Indian should watch the movie in theatres to truly experience it pulsating through their veins.

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The post Bastar: The Naxal Story Elucidates How The Region Battled The Maoist Menace appeared first on The Commune.

Need to pinch myself to believe that I live in a time when we have started making movies to tell the horror stories of red terror! It would be a tribute of a kind to the late Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat and the movie is getting released just a day before his birth anniversary.

For many urban dwellers, global events might stir empathy, prompting them to engage with hashtags and trends to express support for victims of various attacks. However, there’s a noticeable gap when it comes to rallying behind our own forces who have valiantly faced the brutal onslaught of red terror right in the heart of our nation.

Bastar: The Naxal Story provides a glimpse of the inhuman treatment meted out to tribals and villages by the communists under the garb of Maoists, our countrymen have been living a shoddy life, under constant fear for life without any basic amenities for a decent living.

Sudipta Da deserves accolades for the cast, the main characters, especially the politician and the lawyer fighting to save the people from Maoists acted brilliantly. The background score and the two songs accentuated the scene and the situation. The story inside the story of an encounter between a mother and a son and the ideology preference as per their age and circumstances added flavor to the hard-gripping story.

The film’s director didn’t shy away from capturing the gory acts of the Maoists akin to Kashmir files, because the audience has to feel the pain of the victims and justly too. This deliberate choice aims to make the audience feel the profound pain of the victims, serving as a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by those caught in the crossfire. The flip between court scenes, village, Maoist camps, and police camps was neatly done and kept the movie interesting till the end.

The real face of communism has been unmasked and its evil designs have been laid bare, Bastar is a lesson for everyone who considers communism to be good for the nation and the world. As the dialogue goes ‘communism (Maoist) is the third dangerous militant group next to ISIS and Boko Haram. Some movies are not made for entertainment but they are tell-tale of unfortunate countrymen, who lived through a horrid time in the red corridor.

Jay Kay is a business analyst with one of the leading IT firm. He is also an RJ for Western Music in AIR, Chennai. He worked as an English Newsreader for a regional channel in Chennai for a couple of years. He is also a host of PGurus Tamil.

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The post Bastar: The Naxal Story Exposes The Horrors Of Red Terror appeared first on The Commune.

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has eased the lockdown restrictions in the state in view of the Bakrid despit the state recording the second highest number of active cases after Maharashtra.

The lockdown restrictions will be relaxed on July 18, 19  and 20 as part of Bakrid. Permission has been given to open textile shops, footwear shops, electronics shops, fancy shops, jewellery shops, etc till 8 pm along with shops selling essential items in the A, B & C categories.

This relaxation in lockdown comes at a time when the state has been recording the highest number of daily COVID cases. Kerala recorded 13,773 cases on July 15, the highest in the country.

Many have criticized the Kerala government’s move calling it a move to appease Muslims.

Uttrakhand daily average for new covid cases is just 48 and yet they cancelled the Kanwar Yatra. Kerala's per day average for new cases is 13,008 and still they are relaxing lockdown to allow Bakrid qurbani. Hail model communist secular governance.

— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) July 16, 2021

Will sickulars speak up now? https://t.co/a6f0EsYg6A

— Kumar Ramachandrappa (@kumar4unity) July 16, 2021

Netizens also pointed out that the Uttarakhand government had cancelled the Kanwar Yatra despite the state having only 692 active cases and the daily cases getting reported in double digits.

Kerala active cases: 119513
Uttarakhand: 692

Yet, the latter bans Kanwar Yatra. The former relaxes restrictions for Bakrid.

In spite of majority of Indian medias Photoshop articles, Kerala remains one of the worst COVID performer. https://t.co/IY8mCv0mSF

— Anindya (@AninBanerjee) July 16, 2021

https://twitter.com/RajaHind_/status/1416056086616940545

RW Trolls never understand the logic behind this relaxed lockdown for Bakrid. This is to avoid second wave and ride on first wave itself. Kerala is the only state which did not get second wave. Kerala model @Arunan22 https://t.co/u6ez27SzP5

— N.B mayuran Pillai (@nbmayuran) July 16, 2021

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The post Kerala: COVID to go on leave for Bakrid, CPM Govt announces relaxation for 3 days despite no respite appeared first on The Commune.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has failed to force Tibetans from following the Dalai Lama, even as Beijing deprives the Tibetans their legitimate civil and religious rights, according to human rights activists.

Communist China’s claim over Tibet is also based on historical lies, even though military power and authority have been used to clamp down on facts about occupied Tibet, even as Beijing continues to demonise the Dalai Lama through fake narratives, the activists said.

They were speaking at a webinar on “Communist China and its Failure to Destroy the Institution of the Dalai Lama: Lessons for the Future” organised by New Delhi-based think-tank Law and Society Alliance and geopolitical magazine Defence Capital.

Joining the event from Geneva in Switzerland, Ms Thinlay Chukki, a Special Appointee for Human Rights at the Tibet Bureau, said Tibet was militarily occupied by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 as part of its expansionist agenda.

“Since then, China has constantly tried to destroy the institution of the Dalai Lama,” Chukki said.

The Dalai Lama has been the political ruler of Tibet at least since 1642, with nearly 500 years of a Tibetan government under the institution of the spiritual leader, she said.

“For China, usurping the powers of the Dalai Lama marks the first step towards consolidation of the CCP’s power. When His Holiness was forced into exile from Tibet, Mao Zedong lamented saying that China had lost the entirety of Tibet. Only if the Dalai Lama were in control of the Chinese, would their military conquest of Tibet gain some sort of legitimacy,” she said.

Chukki blamed present Chinese President Xi Jinping for projecting CCP’s ideological battle in Tibet as a national security concern for the PRC due to Tibetans’ unique culture, language, and identity.

She pointed out that in 1994, the United Nations compiled a special report after the visit of the special rapporteur on religion to China in which it was noted a consistent attack and persecution of Buddhists was in progress in Tibet.

“The Tibetan Buddhists are persecuted for even possessing a photograph of the Dalai Lama because the CCP feels that the spiritual leader, who embodies compassion, posed a greater threat to Beijing’s rule over Tibet, as the religious figure symbolizes a legitimate government of the Tibetans, even though in exile.”

She said the international community needs to keep an eye on Communist China’s actions. Because, this oppression was not just confined to Tibet, under the CCP rule, as a recent report by Freedom House stated.

“By taking control of the institution of the Dalai Lama, CCP is also trying to exert influence Tibetan Buddhists settled in all parts of the world. This includes those in states such as Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, apart from nations such as Nepal, Bhutan and Mongolia.”

Washington DC-based International Campaign for Tibet’s Interim Vice President and International Director for Outreach Ms Tencho Gyatso said the present Dalai Lama’s actions and sacrifices over these 70-odd years have only deepened the Tibetan people’s connection with the spiritual leader. “The Dalai Lama now represents the whole of Tibetan culture, religion and nationhood.”

She said Communist China has attempted to rewrite all of Tibet’s historical narratives. “The Chinese government calls the Dalai Lama ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’. The CCP has indulged in mass cover-ups of the atrocities it perpetrates in Tibet and on the Tibetans, just as it has tried to erase the Tiananmen Square massacre, as though it never happened.”

Gyatso said despite the CCP’s best efforts, the bond between the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama has only grown stronger.

“Young Tibetan monks that have been forced to grow up under the oppressive Chinese regime and have never even seen the Dalai Lama. Yet, their allegiance and spiritual connection to him are unbelievably strong. Over 150 Tibetans have self-immolated and called for the freedom of Tibet.”

Gyatso noted that while Tibetans enjoyed full freedom in India, a democratic nation, this freedom was impossible to imagine for those Tibetans currently under the CCP’s rule.

“Tibetans in Tibet today have to deal with a strictly regulated society. There are cameras everywhere and any display of Tibetan culture, language or loyalty to the Dalai Lama is dealt with very harshly.”

She said the final straw was the atheist CCP trying to control the process of selection of the next Dalai Lama by introducing laws that Tibetan Buddhists are forced to follow.

“Besides, the CCP leaders these days are talking about the idea of Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism – that is, Buddhism with Chinese characteristics,” she added.

Gyatso noted that several democratic nations globally, including the United States, are now supporting the idea of a successor to the Dalai Lama, as chosen by the present spiritual leader and that CCP would have no say in it. “This position has been supported in the US administration’s Tibetan Policy and Support Act that threatens to penalise any Chinese authority that interferes with the institution of the Dalai Lama.”

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The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has received the Governor’s ascent for the controversial amendment to the Kerala Police Act that paves way for punishing individuals with 5 year jail term for ‘offensive’ social media posts.

The newly inserted section 118 (A) of the Kerala Police Act states that “any person creating or sharing a social media post which is offensive or is intended to offend or threaten another person, through any means of communication, is liable to face imprisonment of five years or a fine of ₹10,000 or both.”

The Communist government has claimed that this law is necessary to fight crimes, hate speech fake propaganda on social media. However, this has led to apprehensions that the state could become a North Korea and China using the law for silencing critics of the Communist party and government.

The opposition parties in Kerala have already raised the banner against the draconian move  allegeing that this amendment will give more power to the cops and curtail freedom of expression.

The post Separated by countries, united by ideology: Communist govt in Kerala brings in draconian law to incarcerate individuals for ‘offensive’ social media posts appeared first on The Commune.

While the attention of the world has been towards the US over the death of George Floyd and the ensuing mayhem unleashed by the far-left group Antifa, protests in Hong Kong have taken a violent turn where a 14 year old boy protesting against Beijing’s move to pass the National Anthem Bill was reported to have been brutally murdered by the Chinese police in Hong Kong.

In a video shared on Twitter by Research Wing, a private research and diplomacy group working for global peace and human rights, a young boy can be seen being pinned down to the road by Chinese police with one of them pressing the boy’s head to the street violently and placing the knees on the boy’s face and neck. Lying in a pool of blood, the boy can be heard groaning and crying as the police tie his hands. The incident has a stark similarity to how George Floyd, who was reportedly suspected of passing counterfeit bills at an eatery in Minneapolis died at the hands of the police.

The video shared by the handle carried a caption that said “#Communists across the world are asking people to protest against police brutality in their respective states. Will the protests for #PoliceBrutality in #HongKong where a 14 year old school boy brutally murdered by #CCP”, blaming the Communist Party of China for the violence. It carried the hashtag #FreeHongKong and #CCP_is_terrorist.

#Communists across the World are asking people to protest against police brutality in their respective states.

Will they protest for #PoliceBrutality in #HongKong were a 14 year old school boy brutality murdered by #CCP.#FreeHongKong#CCP_is_terrorist pic.twitter.com/8GpC6RAipH

— Research Wing (@ResearchWing) June 1, 2020

The post Breaking: Chinese police unleash brutality on 14 year old boy in Hong Kong, similar to George Floyd’s incident in US appeared first on The Commune.

A certain group of people, claiming to be liberals, feel threatened today by India’s spiritual Gurus as the former’s hypocrisy gets systematically exposed by the latter. Recently, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev had spoken in a public meeting where he called himself a ‘leftist’. Since then, the so called liberals have been feeling uneasy with the latest to join them being Carnatic singer T M Krishna, who considers himself to be a champion of democracy, dissent, social justice and communal harmony. He resorted to a desperate tirade against Sadhguru after the latter mentioned that he is far more left than anyone can imagine.

Nobody knows what Mr. T.M Krishna is trying to do here but his attack on Sadhguru seems more like a tactic to be in the limelight, which is pretty sad for a man of his stature. It appears as if Mr. Krishna engaged in his diatribe without having much clue about Sadhguru’s work on social and spiritual fronts. By this, Krishna has just confirmed what Sadhguru has said about people of his ilk, that they cannot be accepting of anyone else’s opinions. If there was indeed a healthy debate on this ‘left’ versus ‘right’ wings in India, all social segments could benefit with new insights coming to the fore.

However, resorting to abuse and name calling indicates nothing less than a sore, defeatist and attention-seeking mindset. Be that as it may, it will be a beneficial exercise to present to such people about Sadhguru’s work and logically conclude (with the same metrics that they use) that spiritual Gurus like Sadhguru are leftists/democratic socialists/communists in the true sense unlike the armchair ones.

#1: Liberal Thought Process

At a spiritual level, Sadhguru’s thought about adhering to Dharma is that it has to come out of personal experience of transcending human limitations and by considering oneself like a mother to the whole world. Can there be a more liberating thought than this? Here is a person asking people to think beyond boundaries of caste, class, race, gender, religion and any other schisms to embrace all.

Often, the people of the so called right in India, take offense to Sadhguru that he does not refer the Hindu scriptures in his discourses or speeches. But he has always maintained that he wishes to share knowledge from personal experience rather than basing it on any scripture, however sacred it might be. Does that sound like Jiddu Krishnamurti, the world teacher known for his radical approach to life and living?

This thought process is a straight fit into the European model of liberalism which is considered to be the strictest such form across the world. Can people even argue that this stand of Sadhguru cannot be considered as liberal?

#2: Transformation Through Education

Sadhguru’s Isha Vidhya schools have more than 5000 rural children in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh studying in scholarships, providing them FREE, high quality, English medium, computer-based education for over two decades now.

Isha Volunteers have also been providing educational support for more than 1 lakh students and hundreds of teachers in Government schools in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with better educational models and by providing learning aids.

Isn’t the idea of free education and transformation of the society through free education one of the fundamental ideals of leftist philosophies? Does TM Krishna know about the existence of such schools?

#3: Transformative Healthcare

Isha’s rural health clinics and rural mobile vehicles have been treating thousands of patients in surrounding villages for free. So far, more than 5 million people have been treated for various medical disorders free of charge across 7500+ villages.

Even today, when people visit Isha’s rural health clinics, they carry no money but only the bright hope that someone is going to take good care of their health. Isn’t such free provision of healthcare a core leftist ideal? Why don’t we see anyone talking about that?

#4: Free Food and Community Relief Operations

Whenever disasters have stuck in South India like the 2004 Tsunami, Gaja Cyclone, Chennai Floods, etc. Isha Foundation volunteers have provided extensive financial, food and medicine support to the vulnerable populations.

Even during the COVID relief operations, thousands are being fed daily since the beginning of April 2020.

Every day, thousands are served food at the Isha Yoga Centre. Anybody can walk in and have food. Nobody asks or is even interested in knowing about one’s background. People are seen as people. During Isha’s biggest spiritual events like Mahashivratri and Guru Pournami, lakhs of people are offered free food by the volunteers.

#5: Individual Empowerment

Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation has its main motto as “to raise every human being to the peak of their potential, so that they are exuberant, all-inclusive, and in harmony within themselves and the world” — which definitely is the highest level of individual empowerment.

So far more than 90000 people across rural Tamilnadu have been taught Yoga for free through Isha’s Action For Rural Rejuvenation efforts. Apart from this, millions of people’s lives have been changed through the FREE online yoga offerings of UpaYoga, Isha Kriya, etc. by Sadhguru.

Not just asanas but one is also taught on how to live life joyfully, how to come out of stress, how to engage constructively in the society as a volunteer.

Many people who identify themselves with communist ideals have appreciated these efforsts. Only people who have had no real inclination for communist ideals or have had no experience whatsoever with Isha’s spiritual programs cannot see the connection between these. They are just good at posturing themselves for personal or political gain. Or just to gain acceptance to a certain elite crowd who inherently hate people like Sadhguru. People who have experienced both will surely appreciate their inherent resonance.

Now one may ask what about the paid yoga programmes offered by Isha? Well, people who have the means and are ready to pay, pay for the service and get benefitted. People across the world have benefitted health-wise through these programs. How else would Isha be able to fund its social initiatives?

Isn’t distribution of equity in society from the richer to the poorer segments one of the core objectives propounded by Karl Marx? Shouldn’t Sadhguru be lauded for achieving this?

#6: Social Upliftment

Isha Foundation has been doing phenomenal work in social upliftment, especially in rural India, through several of its initiatives like Action For Rural Rejuvenation.

Gramotsavam, the rural olympics conducted by Isha Foundation, has witnessed rural folk coming together for sports crossing the chasms of caste, religion, gender and what not, to erase these boundaries of humanity that kept them separated for generations.

Isn’t it a dream of every leftist to see a society sans any caste or religious discrimination? Why do some people complain when Sadhguru is achieving it right in front of our eyes? Are they blind to such realities or do they choose to keep their eyes shut?

#7: Environmental Initiatives

The fantastic tree sapling creation and plantation efforts through Isha’s Project Green Hands have turned many a wasteland into green oases in Tamil Nadu. More than 3 million saplings have been raised and planted through this project so far.

The Rally For Rivers movement has been instrumental in bringing about changes to the National water policy and river rejuvenation across India. States like Odissa have already made significant strides in taking this to the next level.

The Cauvery Calling project aims to better the lives of farmers in Cauvery river basin by helping them move to AgroForestry and also achieve plantation of 2.42 billion trees in the basin for rejuvenating the river through community involvement.

The Farmers Producer Organization (FPO) wing of Project Green Hands has changed the lives of 1000+ farmers involved in it in Coimbatore. For the first time, farming has become a lucrative career option, providing hope for a major demographic segment of Indian population.

Such environmental initiatives have been appreciated by World Economic Forum. Sadhguru has participated in the UNFCCC COP in 2019. Anyone with common sense would understand that such highly reputed international bodies don’t invite fools to deliver an address on Climate Action and Reducing Human Footprint.

#8: Self-sustaining Businesses

Isha Crafts is an amazing community business model where craft products are made by tribals and rural folk trained by the Isha Foundation in a small scale/cottage industry model. Many might not know this – the dresses that most people at Isha wear comes from Isha Crafts primarily.

Proceeds from sales of these artistic products to general public go almost entirely towards taking care of the financial needs of the very people that make them — tribals and rural folk from nearby villages. Hundreds of villagers have been trained in vocational jobs like this by Isha Foundation for making their own living.

#9: Promoting Gender Equality

Nearly half or more of the monks and people holding authoritative positions at Isha Foundation are female. There is no gender discrimination of any sort in any of the programs conducted by the Foundation.

The LingaBhairavi shrine in Isha Yoga Center has only lady priests, called Bairaginis, who tend to the deity and conduct all the rituals.

With all the talk of communism and socialism for centuries, I do not see many such places elsewhere either in the east or the west.

#10: Community Living and Social Equality

Isha Yoga Center is a place where more than 3000 people live. Everybody has the same rules. There are no rich or poor at the ashram and everyone is treated the same way, irrespective of their social background.

The Adiyogi Shiva statue or the meditative space of Dhyanalinga are among the only few places in India where no social / gender / racial / caste discrimination of any sort is followed. People from all walks of life come here and benefit from yogic practices they can learn.

Highly qualified people and a person who has had no formal education volunteer cheerfully in the same place for the same activity. No one frowns upon the other based on social status or qualification. You would not even know who is rich and who is poor by looking at the volunteers.

Everyone at the ashram consumes food at a place called Bhiksha Hall — bhiksha means an offering given by someone. So, the entire community comes together to have food in a common place. Everyone is served the same food irrespective of social status.

For residents at the Isha ashram, even the living quarters are in the same way and no one bickers about more facilities. Every person, despite their age, race or gender, shares responsibility for the entire community and goes about their allocated volunteering tasks.

So, this illogical argument of TM Krishna of “upper-caste privileged milieu where markers of discrimination are brushed under the carpet” has no basis clearly — and it perplexes anyone with sanity as to where caste comes into this at all.

#11: Participating in Democratic Processes

Sadhguru has always encouraged democratic voting and has NEVER EVER asked his disciples to side with any political party. He works with all the governments across India when it comes to policy making.

His ‘Rally For Rivers’ and ‘Cauvery Calling’ projects are prime examples of that. There is a centrist government in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, a so called right wing BJP government in Karnataka, and a communist government in Kerala and all of them work with Isha Foundation for environmental initiatives with equal enthusiasm.

Having elaborated on all this, let us now look at the main objections the naysayers have with Sadhguru.

#1: The opposition claims he is always siding with BJP Government. If that is the case, why should Isha work with a communist government in Kerala that is dead opposed to the BJP at the centre?\

#2: The next major objection seems to be that Sadhguru does not support protests or support the people protesting.

Sadhguru has expressed his dissent openly to the government at times on certain policy decisions and has also constructively provided feedback to the government entities on what they could do better. But he is definitely against violent forms of protests like burning the buses, blocking of roads, etc. because that causes disruption to public life.

This is a country that is governed by rule of law. Sadhguru advocates adhering to the rule of law, going to the courts, media, etc. to express dissent in a democratic system. Just because he does not encourage violent protests, under the guise of standing for democracy or dissent does not mean that he discourages expressing concerns of citizenry.

Or is it necessary that one has to instigate people to turn against a democratically elected government to be qualified as a ‘communist’ or a ‘liberal’?

TM Krishna, quite laughably, claims that we achieved our independence only by protesting on the streets. Cliché. Can T.M. Krishna atleast try to come up with something better? What the likes of T.M. Krishna don’t get is that the independence was fought against an oppressive foreign rule that held power without democratically getting elected. Why would any sane citizen fight his or her own government (and inconvenience hundreds or thousands of his fellow citizens) with violence when far more peaceful and easy means of expressing one’s concerns exist in the current democratic process? Also, if the present regime was an oppressive one, they wouldn’t have a got a thumping majority consecutively.

For someone who claims to believe in participatory democracy, the only participation that Mr. T.M. Krishna can be seen to be doing is protesting in arenas and shouting viscerally against the government, his peers and against the society in general. Nothing productive has come of his ‘participatory democracy’ except for him participating in events sponsored by his ilk.

For most people, living their lives by just one or two of these ideologies is enough to blow their own trumpets for a life time as leftists. But Sadhguru has quietly gone about his work doing something productive and changing people’s lives for the better. Just one statement of his has made people like T.M. Krishna go bonkers.

In any other communist country, people like Sadhguru would be lauded for the service that he has been doing. In India though, he has to put up with mindless hatred and abuses from people like Mr T.M. Krishna who like to bask in the limelight by posturing as a liberal.

Now, this write up may be brushed off as written by a ‘bhakt’ or a ‘sanghi’ or some volunteer of Isha targeting Mr. T.M. Krishna to shut him up. To leave no room for that, it is important to highlight that the author of this article believes in communist ideals and cherishes liberal values.

(Views expressed are the author’s own)

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